Case Study - ​Early retirement brings new opportunities

David Nadler from the North East of London on the Essex borders is a former employee of a major oil company who took early retirement in the mid-nineties when he was in his late 40s.

For the best part of 20 years, David has been home sitting for Homesitters Limited – a leading, national home and pet sitting company.

Today he spends around a third of the year undertaking various home sits.

Prior to registering with Homesitters, David had been home sitting in an unofficial capacity, looking after the homes and pets of family, friends and colleagues when they went on holiday and he commuted to and from work from their properties.

Once retired, he spotted an advert in Country Life magazine for a role with Homesitters and decided to apply for it.

David says, “I was fortunate that when I retired early I was financially secure and could choose to do something that interested me. I am not doing home sitting for financial gain – it’s more of a pastime and it pays quite modestly, but there are some good benefits.

My clients are very interesting. They are mostly based in Greater London and across the South East, and now many of my assignments are repeats.A typical assignment would be a family home with all mod cons, mostly looking after a pet or pets – usually dogs and or cats. Others are in fairly high end properties that may have valuable art works (paintings, antiques etc.,) and in those cases, the security of the home is paramount. Security is the number one priority for most clients and having a home sitter in place gives them peace of mind that their property and treasured pets are in safe hands.”

David likes the fact that Homesitters provides back up service 24 hours a day for homesitters on assignment in case things go wrong. He has been called in at short notice to cover for homesitters who have had to cut their sit short because of an emergency, and feels reassured that he would have the same level of support should the need arise.

As an experienced homesitter, David tends to have many repeat assignments with clients he gets on very well with, however, he still enjoys new assignments in different locations. He says having empathy for animals is an absolutely essential quality for any homesitter.

He added, “I could be home sitting for the majority of the year, but I pick and choose when I do it and I value the flexibility. The experience is like an enjoyable holiday, but it comes with responsibility.

However, it’s not all glamour. There can be lots of mud involved, especially walking dogs in the middle of winter, and if you are on your own, you need to be happy in your own company.”

“One of the benefits of working for Homesitters is that it isn’t an agency but a direct employer. It is a very professional organisation that has been in business for many years.I know the staff at head office well and this personal connection makes all the difference.”

If you're interested in becoming a homesitter, please visit the become a homesitter section of our website by clicking here.